Both the American film and retail industries are trying to prepare for civil unrest before, during, and after election day by shuffling things around. In Tinseltown, a Hollywood Reporter story says studios are largely skipping the normally lucrative first and second weekends of November in order to avoid having to shell out more for TV spots whose prices are being driven up by political ad spending.

And then there’s that pesky “violence” thing too. “Notably, 2024 seems different and given the incredibly high stakes and high-profile nature of this year’s presidential contest, it looks like the major studios are erring on the side of caution rather than risking the oxygen-sucking dominance of what is likely to be the most intense post-election weekend in modern history,” says veteran box office analysis egghead Paul Dergerabedian. “Waiting to see if politically distracted news cycle obsessed moviegoers will vote with their absence at the multiplex over this specific November weekend is a box office gamble most are not willing to take this year,” he continued, noting that this is really the first time in Hollywood’s history this happened. “The box office has never been impacted by the election, but this is a whole new level. It’s going to be such a shitshow,” said one exec.

The retail industry is similarly bracing for shit to get real, as Axios reports stores are offering up early holiday deals well ahead of the season to drive up sales now. “The uncertainty around election results may slow down shopping around that time and that could be one reason why retailers started to offer holiday deals early,” said George Mason University professor Mehmet Altug.

Axios didn’t really elaborate on potential reasons why partisans might buy less shit this year, but it’s not hard to imagine one side or the other being too scared and depressed to want to spend.